Reclaim The Frame, now in its third year, is run by Birds’ Eye View, a British Film Institute (BFI) backed project (with funds from the National Lottery). We aim to grow audiences for films by women, to broaden cinema perspectives and create a wider view of the world. Birds’ Eye View is a charity whose 16-year focus has been to celebrate new and classic films created by women, first as a festival, and now as a year-round agent for change.

Established in 2017, Reclaim The Frame now holds exclusive cinema screenings in 12 cities around the UK. The project launched at the Showroom in March last year with a special screening of The Kindergarten Teacher starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, directed by Sara Colangelo. The film was followed by a panel discussion with film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and a poetry workshop led by poet and director of Caramel Film Club, Be Manzini.

Since then, the event has grown from strength to strength to become a regular Showroom highlight. Featured films have included; Austrian thriller Styx (co-written by Ika Kunzel), Colombian crime drama Birds’ of Passage (directed by Cristina Gallego), and British documentary Seahorse (directed by Jeanie Finlay). Our last event at the Showroom before the lockdown was one of our busiest yet, and featured a special event for International Women’s Day alongside a screening of biopic documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. 

We are continuing to promote digital releases of films by women in the lockdown and provide exclusive live Q&A’s. Previous events have included director Haifaa Al Mansour discussing her latest film The Perfect Candidate, and director Philippa Lowthorpe (BAFTA-winning Three Girls) and producer Suzanne Mackie (Calendar Girls) discussing their latest film Misbehaviour. Our next event - Reclaim The Frame in conversation with Kitty Green, director of The Assistant will be live on Facebook on Wednesday 6 May at 12pm. The Assistant follows one day in the life of Jane (Julia Garner), a recent college graduate who has landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. As Jane follows her daily routine, she grows increasingly aware of the abuse that insidiously colours every aspect of her workday and decides to take a stand, only to discover the true depth of the system into which she has entered. 

Birds Eye View’s upcoming and previous events are available to watch on Facebook @birdseyeviewfilm. To become a Reclaim The Frame Sheffield Influencer and receive film goodies and free tickets to the Showroom events visit: birds-eye-view.co.uk.

This article first featured in the Sheffield Telegraph on 30 April 2020.